Cyclone brings dread to a local community

OLDHAM’S Bangladeshi community has been frantically trying to contact family and friends for news after a devastating cyclone destroyed vast parts of the Asian country – reportedly killing up to 10,000 people. Cyclone Sidr struck the coast of Bangladesh last Thursday night, bringing with it winds of up to 150mph and a massive tidal surge.

OLDHAM’S Bangladeshi community has been frantically trying to contact family and friends for news after a devastating cyclone destroyed vast parts of the Asian country – reportedly killing up to 10,000 people.

Cyclone Sidr struck the coast of Bangladesh last Thursday night, bringing with it winds of up to 150mph and a massive tidal surge.

It tore through the country to the South West, flattening thousands of homes, uprooting trees, electricity and telephone poles, and wiping out crops and fish farms in many districts.

Rain and high waves created a water surge that swept through low-lying areas and islands, leaving them underwater.

An estimated one million families are thought to have been affected with survivors struggling for necessities like shelter, food and water.

The death toll confirmed so far is at least 2,400 people, killed by falling trees and debris, or drowned, but Bangladesh’s Red Crescent Society says up to 10,000 may have died.

Oldham has the largest Bangladeshi community outside London, with around 9,000 residents.

While much of the local community originates from the north of the country, many families will have friends and loved ones affected by what the Bangladesh Government has described as "a national calamity".

Abdul Malik, secretary of the Oldham Bangladeshi Association (OBA), said the community was in a "deep sense of shock".

He added: "Everyone is grieving for those we have lost in this tragedy. To watch the images on the news is very shocking.

"We have all been calling our families to see if everything is alright. I know some people with families in the south of Bangladesh, where the cyclone hit hardest, who are still trying to contact them."

Mr Malik said Oldham’s Bangladesh community has been donating money for aid via a Bengali TV appeal, while the OBA is to organise its own fundraiser.

Government and volunteer agencies are now in the region providing aid and medicine.

Cyclone Sidr comes only months after monsoon rains brought misery across much of the country. The United Nations called the August flooding in India, Nepal and Bangladesh "the worst flooding in living memory".

Southern Bangladesh is hit every year by cyclones and floods, but Sidr is the most destructive storm to hit the country in more than a decade after 1991’s storm which left 143,000 dead.